


If Found

by speccygeekgrrl



Category: White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Collars, Developing Relationship, Fix-It, Multi, Season 5 Finale Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27982407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl
Summary: "When you said you felt naked without it, after Cape Verde," Peter says, pausing with the key in Neal's anklet but not pushed all the way in, "was that you trying to convince yourself, or did you mean it?""It was strange to not be bound to you," Neal says quietly. "It's going to be strange.""Ah," Peter says, and removes the anklet, fingers trailing over Neal's ankle before he straightens and tosses the anklet on top of a box stacked on two other boxes. "That makes me feel a lot better about this, then."
Relationships: Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	If Found

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was "White Collar with white collars." I just finished watching season 5 and I have Some Feelings About This Bullshit, Poor Neal, Oh My God. Things might have gone more like this if they'd gone as planned.

"When you said you felt naked without it, after Cape Verde," Peter says, pausing with the key in Neal's anklet but not pushed all the way in, "was that you trying to convince yourself, or did you mean it?"

"It was strange to not be bound to you," Neal says quietly. "It's going to be strange."

"Ah," Peter says, and removes the anklet, fingers trailing over Neal's ankle before he straightens and tosses the anklet on top of a box stacked on two other boxes. "That makes me feel a lot better about this, then."

Neal looks up with a question in his eyes to find Elizabeth with a slim black box in her hands. "We got this for you," she says, "if you want it from us." She lifts the lid to reveal a white leather collar with a gold clasp and a small gold tag with what he can identify at a glance as a light sapphire Swarovski crystal on the front, the same color as Neal's very wide eyes. When Neal turns it over with one fingertip the back is etched _if found, return to the Burkes_.

"This is nicer than Satchmo's," Neal says, voice too broken to pull off the joke, staring at the collar the same way he'd stared at the diamond he'd handed to Peter, the price of his freedom, the key to his future. His fingers are undoing his tie before he realizes it, but when he unbuttons the top two buttons of his shirt Neal knows exactly what he's doing. When he meets Peter's eyes and deliberately tilts his head back to offer his throat, Neal breathes, "Will you?"

"You sure?" Peter asks, but he's already picking up the collar.

"We'll work out the details later," Neal says, "but I'd like you to put that on me right now, please." 

The look of possessive pride on Peter's face as he loops the buttery-soft leather around Neal's throat and fastens it at the nape of his neck is, god, it's exactly what Neal's been striving for this whole time they've worked together, and he's never gotten it together like this: pride, yes, Peter was proud of him in the FBI offices, but _possessive,_ that's something Peter's only shown a few times, and usually mixed with desperation. Peter's fingertips skim the sides of Neal's neck before he catches Neal's face between both hands and kisses him, a quick tender brush of lips at first before Peter exhales shakily and takes Neal's mouth like he's staking a claim.

"Wow," El sighs, catching the exact moment Neal's knees go weak and he clutches at Peter like a lifeline. "Oh, hon, you were right."

Neal feels like he should address this comment, except that would require him to stop kissing Peter, and he really, really, really has wanted to kiss Peter for a very long time now, and his curiosity about how the Burkes talk about him is in a distant second place to trying to make good on the years-long backlog of kisses he'd barely kept himself from giving Peter while the nature of their professional relationship made pursuing a personal relationship of this nature out of bounds. 

Peter pulls away first, hands still framing Neal's face, to take in the sight of a flushed and gasping Neal like a recovered masterpiece, something he can't help but feel awe to see. "It looks good on you," he says in a rough voice. 

"El picked it out, didn't she?"

"Of course I did," El says, and she flirts her fingers across where the collar rests on his skin. "Peter's idea for the tag was... not elegant enough for you." She reaches up and nudges Peter's hands away so she can pull Neal down to be kissed. Neal's thought about kissing her, too, but not nearly as much as he's thought about kissing Peter; he puts his hands on her waist but lets her lead. 

With no rules laid out yet, all Neal knows is that he's wearing their name, their collar, putting himself and all he is in the hands of two of the smartest, kindest, most trustworthy people he's ever known; he's off the leash but still bound to them, out of White Collar and into a white collar.

 _If found, return to the Burkes._ Neal knows that he's going to feel found every time he comes home to them, even if their new home is unfamiliar. As long as Peter and El are there, it's the right place for Neal to be.


End file.
